quicken
/ˈkwɪk(ə)n/ verb, noun
Forms quickens quickening quickened
- verb To put (someone or something) in a state of activity or vigour comparable to life; to excite, to rouse.
- verb To inspire or stimulate (an action, a feeling, etc.).
- verb To stimulate or assist the fermentation of (an alcoholic beverage, dough, etc.).
- verb (literary, also figuratively) To give life to (someone or something never alive or once dead); to animate, to resurrect, to revive.
- verb (archaic) To make or help (something) to burn.
- verb To make (a drug, liquor, etc.) more effective or stimulating.
- verb (passive voice) Of a pregnant woman: to be in the state of reaching the stage of pregnancy at which the movements of the foetus are first felt.
- verb To take on a state of activity or vigour comparable to life; to be excited or roused.
- verb (transitive, rare) To apply quicksilver (mercury) to (something); to combine (something) with quicksilver; to quicksilver.
- noun (chiefly Ireland, Northern England) In full quicken tree: the European rowan, rowan, or mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia).
- noun (chiefly Midlands (northern), Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland) Synonym of couch grass (“a species of grass, Elymus repens”); also (chiefly in the plural), the underground rhizomes of this, and sometimes other grasses.
Synonyms
motivate stir up animate arouse awaken beghast leaven bright brighten cheer energize enliven enthuse exalt excite fire up ginger ginger up inflame invigorate accelerate speed up speed whet recreate reanimate revive renovate repair vivify
Etymology
From Middle English quikenen (“to become alive again after dying; to raise (someone) from the dead; to regain consciousness or strength; to give vitality, revive; to regain validity; to nourish; to spare (the life of someone or something); to ignite; to illuminate; of events: to happen more quickly; of clouds: to form”) [and other forms], from quiken (“to come to life; to become alive again after dying; to give or regain vitality, revive; of a seed: to germinate, grow; to arouse (anger); to inspire; to reinforce, strengthen; to make (a substance) alchemically active; to nourish, sustain; to sharpen; to ignite; to illuminate; of news: to spread”) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive forms of verbs). Quiken is derived from Old English cwician (“to bring to life, vivify; to come to life, become living; to quicken”), from cwic (“alive, live, living; mentally agile; intelligent, keen”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz (“alive; lively; quick”) and Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”)) + -ian (suffix forming verbs from adjectives and nouns). The English word may be analysed as quick (“moving with swiftness; occurring in a short time; (archaic) alive, living; (archaic) pregnant”) + -en (suffix attached to some adjectives forming transitive verbs meaning ‘to make [adjective]’).
* Danish kvikne (“to quicken, revive”)
* Icelandic kvikna (“to ignite; to turn on”)
* Swedish kvickna (“to revive”)
From quick(silver) (“mercury”) + -en (suffix forming verbs from adjectives and nouns).
From Middle English quiken (“(chiefly in place names) probably the European rowan or mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia), and possibly also the aspen (Populus tremula), juniper (genus Juniperus, specifically the common juniper (Juniperus communis)), or service tree (Sorbus domestica)”), possibly from Old English cwician (“to bring to life, vivify; to come to life, become living; to quicken”) (see etymology 1).
From Middle English quiken (“couch grass (Elymus repens); a leguminous plant, vetch”) [and other forms], a variant of quich, quik (“couch grass (Elymus repens); a leguminous plant, vetch”) [and other forms] (whence modern English quick, quitch (“couch grass, quitchgrass”); the -en element remains unexplained), from Old English cwiċe (“couch grass”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kwikwaz (“alive; lively; quick”); see further at etymology 1.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To make alive; to vivify; to revive or resuscitate, as from death or an inanimate state; hence, to excite; to, stimulate; to incite.
- verb To make lively, active, or sprightly; to impart additional energy to; to stimulate; to make quick or rapid; to hasten; to accelerate; as, to quicken one's steps or thoughts; to quicken one's departure or speed.
- verb To come to life; to become alive; to become vivified or enlivened; hence, to exhibit signs of life; to move, as the fetus in the womb.
- verb To move with rapidity or activity; to become accelerated; as, his pulse quickened.
Etymology [AS. cwician. See Quick, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “quicken”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details